Andrei Tarkovsky's Sounding Cinema: Music and Meaning from Solaris to The Sacrifice (Music and Sound on the International Screen)

"Andrei Tarkovsky's Sounding Cinema adds a new dimension to our understanding and appreciation of the work of Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) through an exploration of the presence of music and sound in his films. The first comprehensive study in English concentrating on the soundtrack in Tarkovsky's cinema, this book reveals how Tarkovsky's use of electronic music, electronically manipulated sound, traditional folk songs and fragments of canonized works of Western art music plays into the philosophical, existential and ethical themes recurring throughout his work. Exploring the multilayered relationship between music, sound, film image and narrative space, Pontara provides penetrating and innovative close readings of Solaris (1972), Mirror (1975), Stalker (1979), Nostalghia (1983) and The Sacrifice (1986) and in turn deeply enriches critical understanding of Tarkovsky's films and their relation to the broader traditions of European art cinema. An excellent resource for scholars, researchers and students interested in European art cinema and the role of music in film, as well as for film aficionados interested in Tarkovsky's work"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half Title Series Page Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of Figures List of Music Examples Acknowledgments 1 Interpreting Tarkovsky’s Cinema Through Its Music 2 Bach at the Space Station: Diegetic Ambiguities and Multiplying Gaps in Solaris 3 Memories, Dreams and Mysteries: Music and Dimensions of Human Experience in Mirror 4 Beethoven Overcome: Transcendence and Utopia in Stalker 5 Musical Offerings, Soothing Sounds and Sacrificial Acts: Managing the Nostalgia of Nostalghia 6 The Voice of Truth: Liminal Music, Spiritual Authenticity and Gradual Awakening in The Sacrifice 7 Music, Meaning and Troubled Utopias in Tarkovsky’s Cinema Appendix: The Structure of Mirror References Index